Fly Away Home
by do i need a pen name
Summary: Quil has been putting off this conversation for years. But now that he has finally decided to tell Claire the truth, her initial reaction is definitely not what he was expecting and it doesn't exactly go completely uphill from there. He's bound to make his point eventually, though, right? COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer—I don't own Twilight. Or **_**True Blood**_**. Or the movies **_**Fly Away Home**_** and **_**X-men**_**. Or, quite possibly, Quil's description of imprinting; I might have inadvertently quoted…something…from somewhere… I do, however, own this story that was once going to be a ridiculously long one-shot, but is now three chapters.**

**Fly Away Home**

Quil Ateara had always loved Claire Young.

When she was two he had loved her like an older brother would; she was the little sister he'd never had.

When she was seven, she declared for the first of many times to come that he was her absolute best friend in the whole world; he could work with that.

When she was fifteen, he realized she wasn't a little girl anymore. And so, although Quil had always loved Claire, it wasn't until then that he actually started to fall _in_ love with her; because, being who she was, how could he _not_?

When she was eighteen, she graduated from high school and made plans to go to college on the other side of the state from where he lived.

And that was when Quil realized that, although he had always loved Claire, he needed to make sure that she actually knew that. Quil needed to make sure that Claire knew that he would always be there for her. No matter what. And that would require having the conversation with her that he had been putting off for as long as he had known her. But he couldn't put it off any longer, because Claire was leaving and she needed to know the truth.

Once Claire had officially finished school and summer had begun for her, Quil spent every day with her, just like always, slowly working up the courage to broach this particular topic with her. Of course, as he'd been avoiding it for so long, he always ended up talking himself out of it just when he thought he was about to come clean to her. To all intents and purposes, it appeared as if this conversation was never going to happen, no matter how much Quil was dying on the inside to finally profess his love to Claire.

Because what if she didn't feel the same way? What if she reacted badly to finding out about the imprint? What if she hated him? These thoughts ran through Quil's head for two straight weeks, whether or not he was with Claire at the time. But Quil knew he wouldn't be able to keep the truth from Claire forever. He'd break down and tell her…eventually…when he worked up a satisfying amount of courage…

In the end it was Claire who finally took the decision out of his hands. Of course.

"Is everything okay with you, Quil?" Claire asked one day while the pair was taking one of their usual walks down the beach. On this particular day, Claire was in La Push under the guise of visiting her Aunt Emily, although everyone knew it was really to visit Quil, as she always ended up spending most of her time in La Push with him anyway. "You've seemed kind of…off, lately. Something is bothering you, isn't it?"

Quil sighed heavily at this. Of course she had noticed. Claire always noticed. It was about time he came clean to her…

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something," Quil admitted. Finally. It was now or never. He could do this.

"You've contracted rabies, haven't you?" Claire asked, her mouth set in a serious line, though her eyes were sparkling in amusement.

"Not yet," Quil replied with the barest hint of a smile.

"That's bound to be the answer one of these days," Claire insisted with a shake of her head, walking away from him and over to the nearest driftwood log and sitting down on it. She knew he would follow her; he always did. "I mean, it's only been my guess for the past, oh, ten years or so."

"You just keep telling yourself that," Quil advised her as he sat down beside her, his smile broadening now. His Claire really was something else…

"Does it even have anything to do with the wolves?" Claire asked. "Or are all of my incessant questions just keeping you from telling me that you won the lottery and you're going to support me for the rest of my life while I laze around all day doing nothing, like we both know I want to?"

"It's about the wolves," Quil said with a small chuckle. "There's something I've never told you about them. Not that I purposely kept it a secret from you," He hurried to assure her, "I just…could never quite figure out the right way to tell you. And I was never sure if you were old enough to understand. It's…complicated."

"Well, I'm all ears," Claire told him, situating herself so that she was now angled towards him, her expression expectant.

"It's called imprinting," Quil began.

"Imprinting…" Claire repeated slowly, trying to figure out if she knew what the word meant. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "Oh! Like that one time in that one movie?"

"Huh?" Came Quil's succinct response. He had not been expecting that. Claire knew what imprinting was?

"You know," Claire said impatiently, "The one with the girl!"

"That's really helpful," Quil replied sarcastically, momentarily distracted from the conversation he had been putting off for years. What on Earth was she going on about right now? Did she actually know what she was talking about? Because Quil sure as hell didn't…

"You know…the _girl_!" Claire repeated emphatically, waving her arms for emphasis. "_Ages_ ago, way before she was ever on that really old show with the vampires—"

Quil visibly stiffened at this, but Claire appeared not to notice as she continued speaking. "A totally inaccurate portrayal, of course," She was saying, "But that's not important right now. Even before that other movie, where her hair was all funky, she was in that one movie…it's really old…about the geese and the farm and her dad built her a plane thing that looked like a goose so she could teach the little goose…ling…baby…things how to fly because they thought she was their mother because she was the first thing they saw after they were born and they _imprinted_ on her!"

Minus Claire's stumbling over how to refer to the geese, it all came out in a rush, with her barely pausing for breath, slightly overwhelming Quil.

"See?" Claire said proudly. "I do know what imprinting is."

"Um…alright…" Quil said slowly, slightly unsure about all of her references.

"So what you're trying to tell me," Claire began, thoughtful now, "Is that werewolves can do this imprinting thing?"

"Yeah, exactly," Quil replied, glad that he and Claire finally seemed to be on the same page in this conversation.

"So basically," Claire continued slowly. "Werewolves are just like geese, or birds in general, I suppose."

And just like that, Quil was completely lost again.

"No," Quil said shortly. "Not at all."

"But you can both imprint?" Claire clarified.

"Okay, fine…not _quite_," Quil amended.

"And _you've_ imprinted?" Claire guessed now, easily making the connection.

Quil could only nod; he suddenly found that he just didn't trust his voice to come out right, should he attempt to speak; thank you nerves, for finally kicking in full force. Claire was also silent for a moment, the thoughtful expression still upon her face.

"You imprinted on Jacob, didn't you?" Claire finally asked.


	2. Chapter 2

Quil couldn't speak. He couldn't move. He couldn't even breathe. Where had this conversation gone so wrong? Claire thought he had imprinted on Jake? But his mortification didn't end there, as Claire continued to speak.

"It makes perfect sense," Claire stated with a smile, seemingly happy with herself for thinking she had figured things out. "You told me about that whole debacle you had with the Cullen's years ago, and how Jacob claimed his rightful place as Alpha and left Sam's pack, and how you eventually left Sam's pack to join Jacob's. You followed him because you imprinted on him!"

Quil didn't even know what to say to that, though he did finally remember to breathe. Instead, he gave a groan of frustration and buried his face in his hands. He had been waiting to have this conversation with Claire for years, and this was most definitely not how he had ever envisioned it turning out. And even if he did manage to sort things out and explain the reality of things to Claire, he was sure the rest of the pack would find out all about it the next time he phased. Quil was never going to be able to live this down.

Also, if he ever did explain things to her correctly, was Claire going to go back to her goose reference and start referring to him as her father? That really wasn't going to be okay with him…

He was brought suddenly out of his misery, however, by the feel of Claire's small hands wrapping around one of his wrists. He thought she might be tugging on it, in an attempt to pull his hand away from his face, but she clearly wasn't making much headway.

"Quil?" Claire asked softly, concern suddenly lacing her voice. "What's wrong?"

"I'm such a failure," Quil muttered into his hands.

"I don't think you're a failure," Claire's firm response came immediately. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm just making a complete mess of things," Quil stated, finally lowering his hands and sitting up straight again so that he could look at Claire as he spoke; he'd never been able to look away from her for very long. "I've been putting off having this conversation with you for years and I can't even do it right after waiting all this time. I haven't explained things to you the right way at all."

"It was the geese, wasn't it?" Claire asked after the briefest moment of hesitation. "The geese were what threw you off."

Quil gave a snort of laughter, "I'll say."

"Why don't we start over, then?" Claire suggested, a reassuring smile on her face. "We'll just pretend like I've never heard of imprinting before. It'll be like geese don't even exist."

"Alright," Quil agreed. And now, for the first time, he finally noticed that Claire hadn't released her grip, but had instead entwined one of her hands with his. This momentarily distracted Quil. He couldn't remember when the last time was he had actually held Claire's hand, but it must have been when she was much younger. Her hand still fit perfectly in his.

Quil shook his head slightly, refocusing. Then he began to speak.

"Imprinting," He said slowly, "Is this thing that us wolves do. The Quileute legends had led us to believe that it's really rare, but a bunch of the pack members have imprinted by now."

"You've imprinted," Claire stated, and Quil nodded his agreement once more.

"Even if a person carries the wolf gene, imprinting can only happen once you start phasing," Quil continued. "It's purpose…well, the real purpose is for a wolf to find the best possible match to pass on the wolf gene. But really, it's so much more than that. When a wolf imprints, he'll see a girl and it's like…it's like the Earth stops moving. Nothing else matters but her; he would do anything, be anything for her. She is the most important thing in the universe now. Protecting her and keep her safe and happy…that is all that matters from then on."

Claire couldn't help but be drawn in as Quil spoke. His expression was faraway now, and awe-filled. Clearly he was remembering his own experience with imprinting. And that thought brought Claire back to herself.

"And you've imprinted," Claire said again, clutching tighter at Quil's hand now. Now she was worried. Where was he going with this?

"Yes," Quil said simply, meeting her gaze once more.

"When?" Claire pressed.

"I was sixteen," Quil stated evenly. "It wasn't very long after I joined the pack."

"And there have been others who have imprinted as well?" Claire continued, wanting to get all of the details before forming another conclusion.

Quil nodded once more.

"Who?"

"Well, your Uncle Sam, for one," Quil replied easily. "On your Aunt Emily. It must've been around the time you were born, because she ended up moving down here eventually, not too long after that."

"And they started dating," Claire continued.

"After a few…setbacks," Quil said slowly, "Yeah, they did."

"And Jared and Kim?" Claire asked, thinking of the other pack members' relationships and which ones were similar to her aunt and uncle's. At Quil's nod she continued, "And…Paul and Rachel?" Another nod from Quil. "Oh! And Jacob and Nessie? That would explain why he willingly spends so much time with the vampires…"

"Imprinting," Quil began again, "Is basically like finding your soul mate. You're each other's perfect match and, like I already said, you'd do anything for her."

The slightest of frowns appeared on Claire's face now. She thought she could now see where this conversation was going but she flat-out refused to let her mind wander in that direction. She needed Quil to say it out loud; she needed his confirmation of her suspicions.

"Who did you imprint on, Quil?" Claire finally asked. She smirked slightly, because she could just feel the tension between them right now and she just wouldn't be herself if she didn't try to break it, "If it wasn't Jacob, I mean."

Quil visibly shuddered. "No, it definitely wasn't Jake."

"Who, Quil?" Claire asked simply, serious now.

"You," Came his simple response, his gaze never wavering from her own.

"When you were sixteen?"

Quil nodded.

"And I was two?"

Another nod.

"And that's the only reason you ever decided to stick around?"

Quil frowned now. He hadn't expected that response. "I won't lie and deny it," He began slowly, contemplative. "The truth is, I probably wouldn't have given you a second glance that first time I met you at Emily's if it hadn't been for the imprint."

Claire refused to let her heart break at this. Here was her best and oldest friend, basically telling her that, if it wasn't for some weird wolf thing, he probably never would have been involved in her life. But Claire was determined to stay strong. He was still explaining, and she would hear him out. Maybe some good would come of this.

"I was sixteen," Quil was saying, his gaze far away, remembering, though he was still facing her, "And I had very recently found out that I could turn into this massive wolf at will. I thought it was the coolest thing ever; I would have gladly spent all of my time as a wolf. In fact, I almost skipped out on Emily's that day, because all I ever wanted to do was run back then. But I went because, let's face it, she's basically the best cook ever. And then I met you…"

Quil's expression changed then, and Claire couldn't read the emotion that crossed it before he schooled his features once more.

"You were crying the first time I saw you," He admitted, his gaze finally focusing on her. "Your mom had dropped you and your sister off to spend some time with Emily while she went to visit Sue, but you had fallen asleep in the car and when you woke up you were in a strange place and your mom wasn't in sight. Emily had been trying to comfort you, but then the wolves literally descended and it was just generally more chaos than normal, if you can imagine such a thing. That's when the food started burning. And what does Emily do? She thrusts the crying toddler at the closest person in order to save her house from burning down."

"You?" Claire guessed, finally speaking up.

"Me," Quil confirmed. "That freaked you out even more," He continued, looking rather chagrined now. "Probably because I was so warm. But it was enough to make you stop crying for two seconds, and you looked up at me and I looked into your eyes and…"

The expression was on Quil's face again. Claire really wished she could tell what it meant, mostly because she was slowly realizing that it was an expression that she had seen on Quil's face frequently enough over the years. But what did it _mean_?

"And that was when I knew I'd do anything for you," Quil finished simply. "I might have been a sixteen-year-old boy, but _you_ were the only thing that mattered anymore."

"What did everyone else do when that happened?" Claire asked now, slightly distracted by her genuine curiosity.

"They didn't even notice at first," Quil said with a roll of his eyes, "The food was still on fire." He frowned suddenly, "At least…I'm pretty sure it was…I was pretty wrapped up in staring at you at the moment. And I couldn't really help it, because you were staring right back. But then…" He smiled slightly, just the corners of his mouth turning up at the long ago memory, "Then you put both of your hands on either side of my face and you said one word."

Claire merely looked at him expectantly, though a smile that mirrored Quil's had appeared on her face unbidden.

"'Cookie,'" Quil said simply. "And that's when the guys finally noticed something was up because…well, I basically started hollering at Emily that I needed a cookie immediately and meanwhile the oven was still smoking like crazy. But it made you laugh and that was all that mattered. That's when I knew I was hooked. So no, I can't say I would have spared you a second glance if it wasn't for the imprinting—" Claire could feel her heart falling even further at this, "—but I'm so glad it _did_ happen."

"But why?" Claire demanded, obviously confused now. "You were sixteen and the new center of your universe, as you describe it, was a little two-year-old who clearly had anxiety issues."

"Not when I was around," Quil contradicted her, and Claire was almost certain she could detect a hint of pride in his tone. Silly boy. He paused momentarily, giving her a thoughtful look. "I know you, Claire. And I think I know why you'd ask something like that. You're thinking that I've only spent time with you over the years because of the imprint thing. But in reality, why _wouldn't_ I want to spend time with you, Claire? I enjoyed all of it, even back when you were only two. You were like the little sister I never had, and your mom sure didn't mind the free babysitter. Spending time with you was _fun_. I wouldn't change the past sixteen years for anything."

She was the little sister that he never had? Claire could most definitely say right now that this was not how she had wanted this conversation to turn out. This wasn't what she had wanted him to say when he started talking about the center of his universe; not at all.


	3. Chapter 3

"Why are you telling me all of this, Quil?" Claire finally asked. "Why now? You've never kept being a werewolf from me. Why wouldn't you tell me about the imprint from the very beginning as well?"

"Honestly, it was because I didn't want you to think I was only staying with you as an obligation," Quil replied easily. "Just like I bet you're still thinking right now, even though it's not true. I…I guess I wanted to prove that I really wanted to spend time with you just because I wanted to. You've _always_ been my world, Claire. All the imprinting did was make me realize it as soon as possible."

"But why _now_?" Claire pressed.

Quil sighed at this, finally breaking her gaze and looking out into the forest.

"You're leaving," Quil said finally, his gaze coming back to her, unable to look away for long. "I've known you since you were two years old, Claire-bear, and now you're finally grown up and leaving. I wanted you to know the whole truth before you left. I-" For the first time Quil appeared to be at a momentarily loss for words before continuing once more, "I just want you to understand that I'll always be there for you. It doesn't matter how old you get or where you go, I've always been there for you, Claire, and I always will be."

"Because I'm like the little sister you never had?" Claire asked for clarification.

"When you were little, yeah, you were," Quil agreed easily. "I'd like to think that now that you're older and we're kind of almost the same age that we're more like best friends now. We'll always be best friends, Claire. You know that, right?"

Claire simply gazed at Quil for a long moment, and now it was Quil's turn to be unable to interpret her expression.

"Since this seems to be the time for confessions," Claire began carefully, "There's something I think _you_ should know, Quil."

"Oh?" Quil fought hard to keep the worry out of his tone as he voiced the single syllable.

Ever since he had noticed that his little Claire really was growing up, he had been preparing himself for the time when she would tell him that all she wanted of him was to be her friend forever. In recent years, he had found himself wanting more than her friendship, but he would never pressure her to change the relationship they had always had unless he knew for sure that it was what she wanted. But he'd already worried himself once today that she suddenly wasn't going to want him in her life anymore after finding the truth, and his mind couldn't help but go back to that now. Claire wouldn't do that…would she?

"The wolf," Claire said slowly, "Will be anything his imprint needs or wants him to be?"

"Yeah…" Quil replied slowly, not entirely sure where this was going.

"And everyone else's imprints," Claire continued, sounding slightly unsure of herself now, "They basically ended in true love, yeah?"

"Yeah," Quil agreed.

"And it's not like the imprint _made_ them fall in love," She pushed on, "It just made them _realize_ that they were pretty much perfect for each other."

"Yeah," Quil said again, nodding this time.

"Then there really is something you should know," Claire said decisively.

Now it was Quil's turn to look at Claire expectantly.

"I don't really want to be friends with you anymore," Claire informed him.

Quil froze. This _was_ really happening. But he didn't understand. He had always been there for her. Always. Whenever she needed him, for whatever reason. He was always there. She had never appeared to have a problem with him before. What had changed? _Why_ didn't she want him in her life anymore?

Of course Claire noticed how Quil seemed to freeze at her words. Indeed, she wasn't entirely sure that he was still breathing.

"Quil?" She questioned, nudging her shoulder against his side, as she didn't reach as high as his shoulder. Naturally, it didn't have the same effect as it would on a normal person, and she'd probably have a bruise by the end of the day, but going through the motion made her point across easily enough. "You alright?"

"Why?" He managed to gasp out.

Claire twisted her lips in a slight grimace. "You're really going to make me spell this one out for you exactly?"

"I don't understand," Was all he said.

"Well," Claire began slowly, giving the hand she was still gripping a firm squeeze, "You're kind of perfect, you know? Even though I really didn't mean to, in the beginning, I've always measured other guys against you. And, naturally, you came out on top every time. And seriously, now that I know you're basically my soul mate, what am I supposed to do? Completely change my mind about how I've come to feel about you?"

"Wait…what?" Forget everything else that had already happened in the course of this conversation, Quil had officially never been more confused about anything in his life until that moment. Over the years, he had forced himself to not even dream of this possibility; he was all about free will, after all. Was she really saying what he thought she was saying?

Claire sighed in exasperation.

"I love you, Quil," She stated. "I mean, I've pretty much always loved you, of course. Because naturally I used to think of you as a big brother, and then you were my best friend. But now I don't want to _just_ be your friend anymore. Because I've been in love with you since I was at least fifteen."

There was really only one thing Quil could do at this announcement.

And that was when he kissed her.

Claire had been kissed before, that much was true. But never like this. This kiss put her in a daze and made her more aware of her surroundings than ever before at the same time. It was warm and soft, and so utterly Quil. It was perfect. At some point—she really didn't notice when, because her attention really was quite thoroughly occupied elsewhere—Claire ended up on Quil's lap, one hand still intertwined with his while the other ran through his hair.

"So…" Claire began tentatively, once they had broken apart several long moments later, her head leaning against his shoulder. "You were lying about that whole being my friend forever thing, then?"

Quil laughed silently and Claire could feel it vibrate throughout his whole body.

"I was just going to take what I could get," He admitted to her, "Because I'm pretty sure I've been in love with you for just as long and I know I never want to lose you. But this is so much better."

And Claire knew it was true. She loved Quil and he loved her. That was what that expression on his face had meant…the expression she had been trying to figure out for years. It was love. Quil loved her.

Quil had always loved Claire and Claire had always loved Quil. And Claire's leaving wouldn't harm that in any way. If anything, her impending departure was for the best because it had finally forced them to admit their true feelings for each other. And really, now that Quil knew Claire loved him too, he'd probably be following her to school. Quil would follow Claire anywhere.

But not because werewolves were like geese. Definitely not.


End file.
